Elegtric-eircuit coupler



2 sneeze-sheet 1.

- (No Model.)

` s. G. G GUIIRIB. ELECTRIC CIRCUIT UQIIPLEII-` No. 888,788. Patented 8.]86, 1888.

INVENTOR C Carini@ By lul? vWITN ESSES Lwwnm...

vA www I EEST Evenmin corr v UNITED :STATES PATENT OEEI'CE.

STANLEY c. c.- CUEEIELoE PHILADELPHIA, PEENSYLVANI, Assis-Nostro THE UNITED .ELECTRIC Y IMEROVEMENT COMPANY, or cLoU'cEs'rER CITY, NEW JERSEY.

` sPEcrEIcATIoN .fomm'g pm of testers rumeno. 398,769,- detea Een-nary 26,1889. Appunti@ En saperne ze, 18st; sans No. 283,715. ne met.)

Bc it known that l, STANLEY-0.10. URRIE, li c subject of the Queen of Greet Srita-in, now l a, resident of the city'a-nd county of Philadelphie., in the State of Pennsylvania, have inf vented nerr and useful Improvements in Elec i tric-Circuit Couplers, of which thefollowing g is a specification.

wrong polarity,"nnd at the saune. time l.not

only to ins'me cective electrical Contact, 'nut 'connections from injury.

. terminals in their respective protecting cases,

- that circuits" of like polerityonly should be s paratusto 'event mistakes from carelessmetal, railings, supports, chains, and instru- .thatl theyczin only be conncctedfin proper ifealso securely to'protect the circuits and their These ends I attain by securing the circuit connections or frames, handles, or stocks in such manner` It is advisable 'in lighting cars by electricity. that their circnitshould extend throughont the train. This .involves the provision of means for rapidly connecting and disconnecting'the circuits between the cars. As it is preferable, in my opinion, 'to employv more' than two circuits-and itis 'essentiel of course connected-to do this effectively and rapidly' under the. Well-known conditions of railway tratllc requires a. special organization of apfness or negligence ,while preserving the' com. venienceend si mplicity, essential to practical' success. The contacts must be good, sure, and elective, vreadily mede or broken, and at all times protected from dirt, weleer danger of outside,conducting-snrfnccs-#sncln for instance, as cer roof s, which' are -usually of vments employed about the car.

The suhjectfmatter; claimed is hereinafter specifically de sifiated in the claims et the' end of this spec cation.

My invent-ion is espeeiellyledstedtor nso casings 'are secured, preferably,

in connection with apparatus for lighting rnil- 5o by electricity-such, for instance, as I.

way-cms that shown in United Stetes'Let-ter's Patent No. 383,502, granted to Tiinmis and Currie, May 29, l-SSS-inwliich three circuit-wires are shown. 'My inrention is shownnn' such an organization in the accompenyinl drawings', which represent only such parts'f'the. apparatus :is are essential to the illustration of the subject-matter herein claimed.

' The details of the '-pperatus, with vthe cxceptions herein speciiethbeing Well known, need not be particularly described, and may -be varied inusual well-known-Wsys within certain limits :without departure from the spirit'cf my invention'. f

4VFigure 1 'represents a View in elevation of a pair of the coupling ceses or handles; Fig. 2, a. transverse section therethrogh on theline 2 2 oi' Fig. l; Fig. 3,'e. longitudinal 'section therethrough on the line 3 3 of Fig.- a2;,Fig. 4, a. diagram. shocking means of :preventing-,hhs

proper connection of the couplers; Fig. 5 is.

n endfvi'ew ot the coupler, showing the ca.- hle entering the handle; Fig. 6, aside view of the adjacent ends of two cars, showing my improved circuitfcoupler-in-position. f Eachcoupler consists of tivo separate hendies, A Af, earch the counterpart of the other,l each handle consisting of two castings, a. a', ofdissiinilar size, and of such shapeEnddi.:4

.-mensionsthat the smaller :casing of Vione hendie lits easily into 4the larger one of the other.

These .casings may be of any snitahleshepe-- round, oval, or polygonal-fin cmss-section..-'v

In the drawings they are shown as" oblong. They are also preferably mede of motel. The

by' screwed, or otherdetachsbl connections, in e tnlilar handle, B, through which the crcuit-wires'fw zy' w2 pass. Ea/ch of these wires 'is connected with "its Vrespetetire .forked or. Ashapedcoli-v ductor y 2,-having contact-pieces,7cr :1:2 'y' y2 ze? therefrom, parallel to. each' other. and to the bore of the casing-,so asto permit the op#v posing cont-ets-of opposite-handles readily 95 to interlock with each 'other to Ainsure goed electric contact. v To facilitate thisi-nie rlock ing, the mqnths'of the cesingm'asweil as the ends of, the contacts, may be made flaringas usual, for instance, in car-couplings. The wires, conductors, and contact-pieces are secured in proper insulating material, in thc casing in well-known ways. ily this organization it willbe seen thateach casing of cach handle contains an interlocking terminal ot' like polarity, so that there are two opposing mustl necessarily be properly completed when the contacts are made, as it is impossible for the inside connections to make contact without the larger casing overlapping the smaller. In order to prevent the smaller casing` from being inserted in the larger one of the opposite -handle while turned halt` round, as shown in Fig. 4, which would produce a short circuit, a tin, rib, stop, or projection, d, is formed on the outer side of each ot the larger casings, 'which shoves thc smaller case to one side when wrongly inserted and prevents its entrance.

A removable spring-plug, like a gun-tompion, for instance, may be inserted in the. mouth ot cach casing to protect the contact when not in use.

l preferto employ four couplcrsto each car, as shown'l in Fig. ti, two at each end, directly opposite each other, and attached `to the projecting/mmf of the car.

One coupling might' be attached to the car,

while its counterpart might be attached tjo the l'n'ojecting end of acahle, W, inclosing the conductors, as shown on the upper side of Fig. o; or two handles might be connected by 'a flexible cable, W,ot con lueto1s,one at cach end, to interlock with corresponding handles on the ear, as shown on the loiret-side of Fig. o. The handles may be held together when interlocked by spring-connections, asshown,

' such, for instance, asthose used in the wellknown air-brake coupling. l

Having thus fully described the construcf forth.

tion and operation of myirnprovcd electriccircuit coupler, what I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by liet-ters Patent, is

l`.4 The combination of, the circuit-terminals and the cases of dittcrent lengths and widths,

inclosing thcterminals and insulated therefrom, substantially ashcrcinbefore set forthl 2. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the handle, two dissimilar'cases secured thereto, insulating material, and circuit-terminals of different polarities similarly arranged in each case and projecting from the insulating material, but. protected by the case.

3. 'lhe combination, substantially hereinhet'ore sctfort-h,.ot two handles, two dis-- si milar cases secured to each handle, each case being adapted to interlock with the corresponding one of the oppositehandle, insulating material in eachhandle, circnitfterminals of different polarities similanly-arranged in eac-h case, projecting from the insulating material and protected by thecase.

4. `An electric-circuitcoupler, consisting of the combination, substantially as hereinbe- 'fore set forth, o'i' the circuit-terminals' and two dissimilar cases, arranged side by side, inelosing the circuit-terminals and extending beyond their outer ends.

5. The combination', suhstantiallyas hereinbefore set forth, ot an electrical conductor prrjecting from a car,v auhandle connect-ed therewith, two dissimilar cases connected with the handle, insulatingr material therein, eircuit-terrni'nals projecting from the insulating material but protected by thc'case, and acer responding handle carrying dissimilar cases, and circuit-connections on the adjacent; car.

(i. The combination, substantially as hercinbefore set fort-h, of the dissimilar overlap ping cases, the sym metrically-arrangcd interlocking circuit-connections, and a stop, d, which prevents interlocking except with the connections in the proper relation, as setI In-testimony whereof-l have hereunto subscribed my name.` A l STANLEY C. C. (.URRIE Witn esses:

MORRIS R. BocKiNs, FRANCIS D. LEWIS?v 

